Animal Welfare Network Nepal solicits support for running
a 3 year campaign to end animal sacrifices in Nepal
General Objective
Conduct a campaign for a phase wise ban on animal sacrifices in Nepal.
Specific Objectives
1.

Facts and Figures of Animal Sacrifices in Nepal
 Animal sacrifice is conducted in most goddess temples
 The total number of animals sacrifices annually is estimated to be a few hundred
thousand; most villages offer 250-1000 animals during Dasain festival
 Sacrifices are generally conducted in the presence of children
 There is no law to regulate animal sacrifice
 The government supports sacrifices with subsidies
 Annual Dasain sacrifices are shown life on national TV
 Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists are all involved
 Apart from known sacrifice through throat slitting and beheading other extreme forms
of blood sacrifices include the tearing apart of a live goat by young men, burning of live
snakes, live skinning of pigs, removal of hearts of live animals, et cetera
 There is very little awareness about the welfare aspect of blood sacrifices
 Priests are among the promoters of animal sacrifice
 Grave abuse takes place in the transport and killing of the animals

 Gadhimai festival takes place once every 5 years and ranks among the world’s worst
forms of animal cruelty

Introduction
Organisation profile
Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN) is a network of committed animal welfare agencies
based in Kathmandu Valley. The AWNN Secretariat is presently housed at Animal Nepal, a
reputed animal rights NGO in Lalitpur District of Kathmandu Valley. AWNN was established in
2008 to increase the effectiveness of and interaction among animal welfare organisations in
Nepal. It is backed by the following objectives:
1. To coordinate the activities of animal welfare organizations.
2. To raise awareness on animal welfare issues among the public.
3. To lobby and advocate for animal rights.
4. To promote stray dog adoptions
5. To provide education and support to its members.
AWNN in the first year of its existence focused on campaigning and lobbying by conducting the
following activities:
1. Lobby for Animal Welfare Act with related Ministries
2. Coordinate the successful Stop Monkey Business Campaign to end the breeding and
export of monkeys for US labs (see www.stopmonkeybusiness.org)
3. Coordinate Worship Without Cruelty Campaign addressing animal cruelty in the name of
religion
4. Launch nationwide photography, poster and article writing competition called ‘Stop
Animal Cruelty’ with the motto Ragat Jota Ho Dukha Pani (Our blood is one, and so is
our suffering)
5. Organise media campaign to sensitize the public on animal cruelty
6. Coordinate Stop Killings at Gadhimai campaign – the first homegrown movement
against mass scale blood sacrifices

Background on animal sacrifice in Nepal
Animal sacrifice is practiced by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or
changing the course of nature. Animal sacrifice has turned up in almost all cultures, from the
Hebrews to the Greeks and Romans and from the Aztecs to the Hindus.
Although many Hindus are vegetarian, there are Hindu temples in India as well as Nepal where
goats and chickens are sacrificed. These sacrifices are mainly done at mandirs following the
Shakti school of Hinduism where the female nature of Brahman is worshipped in the form of
Kali Ma and Durga.
The Hindu way of animal sacrifice/slaughter is called Jhatka, where the head of the animal is
severed completely by a single blow of a heavy sword. This is considered to be the most
merciful and painless death for the animal, as the spinal cord and the blood supply to the brain
are severed immediately. In some Indian states animal sacrifice has been banned. Today much
of the urban Indian Hindu community disapproves of
animal sacrifice. However in Nepal even in urban areas
animal sacrifice is practiced at a large scale with
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Our idols are made of
goddess temples overflowing with blood on certain
stone, but they drip
days of the week. Attempts to stop the practice by the
with the blood of our
Maoist-led government have been met with much
resistance.

fellow beings.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Possibly the largest animal sacrifice in the world occurs
during Gadhimai festival in Bara district which is held
every five years. This tear, on November 24-25, some
250,000 animals were mutilated and beheaded in what may very well be the world's largest
religious slaughter. The Nepal's Government subsidized the Gadimai Festival, despite strong
local and international protest.

However, Gadhimai is not the only blood festival in Nepal. Here people are found performing sacrificial
rituals in the majority of temples in the name of God. There is no law to regulate animal sacrifice.
Offenders who starve, torture or purposely slow down the killing of animals are not prosecuted.
Cruelty against animals harms society as a whole; it signals and normalizes insensitivity in
children who can become numb to the suffering of living beings, it is also known to influence
certain people to commit violence on other humans.
Sacrifices often strengthen the vested interest of those who benefit from superstition-based
beliefs and rituals. As Nepal is moving ahead to become a more fully democratic, egalitarian
society, it is crucial to challenge age-old beliefs which are not beneficial and drain the resources
of the poor and needy.
Unregulated sacrifice of such a baffling number of animals created unprecedented health risks
for humans. Due to the fact that the transport, killing,
disposal and preparation of the animals and their meat
goes unmonitored and the close proximity between
‘Decapitating a
humans and animals, mass sacrifices can result in
bleating buffalo or
widespread food poisoning (Salmonella, E coli,
Campylobacter, etc), Tuberculosis, as well as bird and
goat should not be the
swine flu. Zoonosis have already been reported to be
symbol of the Nepali
caused by festivals such as Gadhimai.
To stop religious killings of animals in the coming days,
AWNN plans to conduct a three year extensive animal
awareness campaign aiming at a phase wise ban of the
practice of animal sacrifice in the name of God.

civilization.’

Animal Welfare Network Nepal’s ‘Stop Killings at Gadhimai Campaign’
AWNN in 2009 conducted an intense campaign aimed at stopping or reducing the offering of
hundreds of thousands of animals at Gadhimai Festival. The network joined forces with the Anti
Animal Sacrifice Alliance (AASA), a coalition of religious groups that has campaigned against
animal sacrifice since 2 years.
The organizations carried out the following activities:
1. Coordinate international protest – AWNN has reached out to international animal
rights organization and the international media to be informed and speak out against
Gadhimai. A few hundred letters were send to Nepalese leaders including personal
requests from Maneka Gandhi, Brigitte Bardot, et cetera.
2. Organise Gadhimai Dharna – AWNN and AASA organized Gadhimai Dharna (programme
for symbolic protest on animal sacrifice) at Patan Durbar by inviting Madan Krishna and

Hari Bansha (Nepal’s well know comedians) and Silpee Theatre Group (drama
performing group) to stop animal sacrifice at Gadimai Festival on November 24 and 25.
3. Petition – A petition signed by over 4,000 people was handed over to the related
ministers i.e. Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation and Minister for Agricultural and
Cooperatives to request the government to stop the mass sacrifice of animals.
4. Leafleting and poster distribution- Pamphlets, Leaflets and Posters were distributed in
and around Kathmandu Valley and in Bariyapur of Bara District (venue of Gadhimai)
5. Organise press conferences – AWNN organized a number of press meets both in
Kathmandu and Birgunj (close to Gadhimai venue) to inform media representatives
about the campaign and about cruelty issues involved in animal sacrifice. Religious
Leaders officers from related government agencies were invited to speak
6. Symbolic campaign – A symbolic sacrifice of coconuts was organized at the goddess
temple in Birgunj
7. Last minute appeal – organizers send an emotional last minute appeal to the organizers
of Gadhimai Festival to stop the mass sacrifice of animals. An sms campaign was
organized to pressurize the organizers on the first day of sacrifice.

Objectives of “End Animal Sacrifice in Nepal” Campaign
General Objective
Conduct a campaign for a phase wise ban on animal sacrifices in Nepal.

Regular visits to responsible lawmakers and authorities
Organised lunch for lawmakers and authorities involved
1.3 Lobby for amendment and enforcement of Meat Act

Activities:
- Regular visits to responsible lawmakers and authorities
- Publish expose of multiple abuses conducted by livestock dealers, transporters and
butchers
1.4 Lobby to include animals in new constitution
Activities:
- Organize a workshop for CA members to include animal issue in constitution.
- Regular visits to responsible lawmakers and authorities
1.5 Introduce letter writing campaigns to
political parties and political leaders

Activities:
-

Coordinate regular letter writing from local and
international organizations and individuals to
Nepalese parties and leaders
1.6 Pressurise public offices civil society
organizations to stop animal sacrifice in
their premises

In Bhaktapur pigs are
skinned alive and their
chests opened, and the living
heart yanked out. The
screaming mercifully dies,
while its still-beating heart is
offered to the temple amidst
loud music.

Activities:
-

Identify public and civil society offices where
animal sacrifice is practiced
Write letters to the organization requesting a ban
Expose these organizations when practice is not stopped
1.7 Conduct a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Visit Nepal 2011? Not over their dead bodiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tourism industry
campaign

Activities:
-

Survey among tourists to find out impact of animal cruelty on visitors
Workshop with industry representatives
Pressurize industry to accept an Anti-Animal Cruelty Code containing the following:
ď&#x201A;ˇ No visits to temples where sacrifice takes place



-

Only sacrifice of fruits, vegetables, eggs at hotels, tour operators, public
tourism buildings
 Stop serving of meat from inhumanely killed animals
 No misuse of working animals
 Percentage of income set aside for animal welfare
Demonstrations at tourist fairs pressurizing government to abolish animal sacrifice
and introduce humane killing of animals
Posters / brochures directed at tourists explaining cruelty issues and what they can
do to prevent it

It is morally wrong to
torture
fellow
creatures,
‘If
we are
indeed
human
but
to
do
so
in
the
beings, why can'tname
we
of
religion
is
a
sin.
The
learn to be a little more
government
should
set an
humane during
a national
example by stopping
festival?’
official sacrifices.

2.3 Produce educational materials
Activities
-

Produce materials such as hoarding boards, posters, banners, sign posts, leaflets and
brochures calling for an end to animal sacrifice
Produce comic book for children about animal sacrifice
Produce a theatre play calling for an end to animal sacrifice

2.4 Conduct school visits in Bara District (Gadhimai area) with the help of comic books and
local education/theater teams
Activities
-

Form Journalists for Animals group
Provide basic sensitization and reporting skills trainings for media representatives
Announce annual Stop Animal Cruelty Journalism award
Promote regular reports on cruelty in animal sacrifices across the country

6. Coordination of international campaigns and formation of coalition
Activities
-

Form International Anti-Sacrifice coalition
Coordinate with Indian groups to conduct education programmes in Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh (60-80 % of blood sacrifices at Gadhimai come from India
Inform and advice international groups on campaigns to pressurize Nepalese
government